Market stall part 1

As soon as Kit stepped outside, he remembered that Mars had gone to deliver the letter to Iris' cousin. He stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next. Deciding to explore the market in the middle of the shopping district again, Kit began walking towards it.

The noise and commotion of the market could be heard before he even arrived. Shouts from vendors trying to attract customers and people haggling over prices filled his ears. Delicious smells wafted through the air and Kit followed his nose until he reached three food stalls.

The first stall sold freshly baked bread, with steam rising from the loaves. Kit imagined tearing off a piece and seeing the fluffy dough inside. Next to the bread stall was the nut stall he had seen earlier. His gaze then fell upon the last stall.

A young woman was selling drinks behind a wooden table. Curious about how these stalls did business, Kit decided to sit down and observe for a while. He noticed that none of the stall owners needed to actively call out to attract customers; they already had a steady stream of visitors.

As Kit looked around the market, he realised that these were the only food stalls as far as he could see. He recalled from his previous visit that the stalls were placed far apart, but now they were strategically placed together.

It was clever planning by the stall owners; as people walked around, their hunger would be enticed by these delicious offerings without any competition.

The woman selling drinks gave Kit wary glances in between serving her customers. After a while, she took a break and approached Kit with suspicion in her eyes. "What ya want? Nothin is free here, so stop staring and bugger off!"

Kit was caught off guard by the harshness in her tone. He suddenly realised how suspicious he must have looked, just sitting there and staring. His face flushed with embarrassment as he realised he probably appeared like he was up to no good.

The young girl noticed his red cheeks and her expression softened. Kit quickly tried to explain himself: "I'm sorry, I was just curious about how you run your business. I want to open a restaurant someday, but I have no experience. I thought watching you might teach me something."

The young girl narrowed her eyes at Kit, trying to assess if he was telling the truth. "Have ya made anything to sell?" Kit nodded eagerly. After giving him one last once over, the young girl let out a small sigh. "Go to the entrance of the market over there. You'll be seein a table with a guard stationed behind it. Pay him a fee, then ya come back here." With that, she walked away to tend to her stall.

Kit wasn't entirely sure what he was paying for, but he followed the woman's instructions anyway. He easily found the guard sitting behind a table. As Kit approached, the guard asked him, "Big, medium, or small?" Kit stared at him, confused. The guard clarified, "The size of the stall."

Understanding now, Kit replied, "Small." The guard requested 5 bronze crowns and handed Kit a token in return.

Kit returned to the young woman at her stall and showed her the token. She directed him to set up between herself and another vendor named Little Beetle. Kit raised an eyebrow. Was she suggesting that he also set up his own stall? After some thought, Kit realised that the token gave him permission to sell goods in the market area.

Feeling excited, Kit considered what he could sell. He could use his camping kitchen to cook and sell food the Apelop salad. This made Kit even more eager to get started.

"Thank you," he said to the young woman with a smile. "I'm Kit, by the way." He offered his hand for a handshake.

She firmly shook his hand and replied, "I be Crackers."

Pleased with the introductions, Kit exclaimed, "Crackers! I just need to grab a few things before I can start selling. Is that alright?"

Crackers laughed, "no problem, it not be my stall."

With a grin on his face, Kit rushed off to gather everything he needed. Kit made his way to the fruit section of the bustling market when he noticed a small stall selling paper. Intrigued, he stopped and considered the possibilities. A friendly voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hello dear. Do you need any paper?" An elderly woman sat behind the stall, knitting a scarf. She had a stooped posture, and wrinkles adorned her face, but her hands were deftly working on the knitting needles.

The stall was deserted, with no signs of recent customers. Kit examined the paper, wondering if any of it would be sturdy enough to use for his plan: making boxes to selling meals at the market!

He would needed some kind of container that could hold food. The paper caught his eye and reminded him of his dilemma. Maybe the old lady had something that could work.

"Do you have any thick paper that I could fold into a box? Something that won't fall apart if it gets a little greasy?" Kit asked, hoping for a solution.

The old lady paused her knitting and slowly stood up from her chair. She went to a box behind the stall and pulled out two different sizes of thick paper, almost like cardboard. She presented them to Kit with a gentle smile.

He ran his fingers over the slightly waxy texture, noticing its soft shine. It seemed perfect for creating a takeaway container for food. However, Kit quickly realised he had no idea how to make a box out of paper.

"Excuse me young man, do you know how to make a box out of paper?" The old lady's kind expression prompted Kit's ears to turn red as he nodded his head in embarrassment.

Without hesitation, she began folding the larger piece of paper into a triangle shape. At first, Kit was confused until he realised she was creating folds on the paper. With each precise movement, she transformed the paper into a half-box shape. Then she repeated the process with the smaller piece of paper and inserted it into the larger one, creating a complete box.

Kit's face lit up with delight at the sight. He could finally make his own takeaway containers for his food. "Could you show me a few more times please?" he asked eagerly, wanting to commit the process to memory.

The old lady nodded and made a few more boxes while Kit observed closely. Once he felt confident in his ability, he thanked her profusely. "Thank you so much for teaching me how to make these boxes."

"No problem, young man. I didn't have much to do anyway, and your company was much appreciated." The old woman's smile revealed two missing front teeth, and Kit returned the gesture.

"How much is the paper?" Kit inquired.

"For 20 bronze crowns each, you can have a box of each size," replied the old woman.

"It's a deal. Thank you very much." Kit handed over the money and collected his boxes. On a whim, he asked if she knew anyone who could make wooden cutlery at an affordable price.

Scratching her head, the old woman responded, "I don't know about cutlery, but my son has plenty of wooden splinters that could be made into chopsticks. He sells wooden barrels at the market."

Kit's eyes lit up at the idea. "Where can I find your son?"

She gestured towards the stall next to hers and laughed at Kit's surprised expression. "Monroe, come here!" she called out.

A middle-aged man approached them. "What is it, mother?"

"This young man wants you to make some chopsticks from your leftover pieces of wood," explained the old woman.

The man nodded and went to a box under his stall. With a carving knife in hand, his hands moved so quickly that Kit could barely keep track. In just a few minutes, there was a pile of perfectly crafted chopsticks on the table in front of them. Kit blinked several times, trying to process what he had just seen.

"How many do you want?" asked the middle-aged man.

"How many pieces of paper are in a box?" Kit remembered that having an even supply of each size would be beneficial for his business.

"A thousand," grinned the old lady.

"Then I'll take a thousand pairs please." Excitement filled Kit as he realised he was one step closer to opening his own stall. But then he remembered his wallet. "How much will that cost?"

"Not much, lad. This is just scrap wood, so I'll charge 40 bronze crowns." The man replied kindly.

"Perfect, thank you." Kit's smile grew even wider as he handed over the money. "How long will it take?"

"Only about five minutes," said the man. Kit was amazed at how quickly and skilfully the man had prepared the utensils.

Now Kit had solved the problem of how to get his product to the customer. Kit had one task in mind: buying pears. Once he was done, he'd come back to pick up the chopsticks and continue on his way.

He walked with a spring in his step towards the fruit and vegetable section, where he purchased 40 bags of pears for 2 bronze each. Now all he needed was to sell enough Apelop salad to make up for his expenses.

Returning to Crackers' stall, Kit felt nervous as he set up his own spot. This would be his first time selling a meal, and he wasn't sure how it would be received by customers. His palms started to sweat, and his knees felt weak at the thought of making a profit from today's venture.

But Kit had taken a gamble, spending 160 bronze crowns on this opportunity. He knew that if he didn't take this risk now, he would never know if his dream of owning a successful restaurant could become reality.

Despite his nerves, Kit was buzzing with excitement as he started cooking. Crackers and Little Beatle, the owner of the nut stall, had even made room for him between them while he was gone.

Setting up his camping kitchen, Kit began preparing ten boxes of salad before starting on Apelop steaks for frying.

As the meat sizzled in the pan with a delicious aroma filling the air, people started to gather around Kit's stall. One woman in particular asked what he was cooking with hunger in her eyes. Though uncomfortable with so many eyes on him, Kit pushed through and answered softly.

"I'm frying Apelop meat for my signature dish," he said, flashing her his best professional smile despite his trembling hand.

The middle-aged woman's shrewd gaze locked onto him as she asked, "How much?"